EDITORIAL: 'War on Women' from within the GOP continues to hamper the party

The Republican Party continues to be sabotaged by members of its own party in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Despite it costing them the presidential election and contributing to the further extinction of the party in Connecticut and the Northeast, the "War on Women" continues.

House Republicans continue to block, of all things, the extension of the Violence Against Women Act.

First enacted in 1994, the law establishes a special office dedicated to violence against women in the U.S. Justice Department and funding for the prosecution of such crimes. It also forces those found guilty to make restitution and allows women to sue in civil court when criminal cases aren't pursued.

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The American Civil Liberties Union, which originally opposed the bill over a since-dropped provision requiring mandatory HIV testing of suspects before they were convicted, later called it "one of the most effective pieces of legislation enacted to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It has dramatically improved the law enforcement response to violence against women and has provided critical services necessary to support women in their struggle to overcome abusive situations."

Extension of the law, which previously happened in 2000 and 2005, has been held up by House Republicans for nearly a year.

They've objected to specific provisions of the law that would protect minority populations - including extending protection to victims of domestic violence in same-sex relationships, expanding visas for undocumented immigrants who are victims of abuse, and allowing Native American women who are assaulted by non-Native people to seek redress in tribal courts.

Of the 232 Republican members of the House, 17 are women. Seven are Hispanic. Only one is African-American. All 19 Republican committee chairs in the House are white men.

As Republican consultant Chuck Warren put it after Mitt Romney's loss in the presidential election, the GOP is "... a Mad Men party in a Modern Family world" .... a world that won't go back to institutional misogyny and intolerance.

Until Republicans - perhaps starting in the Northeast - renounce and cast out this element from the party, it will be a very long road back to power.